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Classic overview

Rescue 8 is a syndicated American action drama series about Los Angeles County Fire Department Rescue Squad 8. It premiered in 1958 and originally ran for two seasons with syndicated reruns continuing for almost a decade thereafter. It starred Jim Davis as fireman Wes Cameron, much later cast as Jock Ewing on CBS's Dallas, and Lang Jeffries as the fireman Skip Johnson. Nancy Rennick and Mary K. Cleary each appeared in twenty-four episodes as Patty Johnson and Susan Johnson, the wife and daughter, respectively of Skip Johnson. The series was produced by Screen Gems, with directors Dann Cahn and William Witney. Rescue 8 produced seventy-four half-hour episodes. The real Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 8 is at 7643 West Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, California. Rescue 8 shows more physically oriented rescues than the later, similar television series Emergency!, as firemen were not then trained as paramedics but acquired the expanded role in the early 1970s.